When we think of a CFO, the first image that possibly comes to our mind is one of spreadsheets, reports, and financial jargon. But for Sherif El-Agwany, CFO at Medmark Egypt, his role goes far beyond just the numbers. Throughout his twenty-year career, Sherif established that contemporary CFOs need to function as transformative leaders who direct organizational advancement and guide innovative developments while strategizing financial initiatives for multinational enterprises. In his role, he’s not just overseeing finances; he’s creating a financial environment that fosters growth and long-term success.
At Medmark Egypt, Sherif’s journey extends beyond his business path because it has become a transformative process. His extensive career journey includes working with global giants PepsiCo, PwC and Ball Corporation in his early years until his current role as CFO of a company navigating through evolving financial complexities. He distinguishes himself from other executives through his exceptional skill of turning experiential knowledge into tangible results. Under his committed leadership, Medmark has expanded and transformed to remain competitive while sustaining its financial strength.
Let’s explore how Sherif’s leadership goes beyond numbers, shaping Medmark Egypt’s growth with vision and strategy!
A Pivotal Moment That Shaped His Leadership
For Sherif, there are moments in life that define the way you approach your work; and one such moment happened during a global financial transformation project that spanned the AMEA region. It was 2015, and Egypt was facing a significant foreign exchange challenge. As part of the project, Sherif engaged with key figures, including the Central Bank of Egypt Governor and the Foreign Trade Minister, to tackle the problem head-on. “Leading this financial transformation and working closely with key figures like the Governor of the Central Bank to address Egypt’s FX issues was a pivotal moment in my career,” he reflects. “It reinforced how much a financial leader can influence larger economic systems, and it really shaped the way I think about my role.”
This experience taught him that leadership is not just about making decisions for the company; it’s about thinking beyond the business and recognizing your role in a broader economic context. This mindset of looking at the bigger picture is something that Sherif carries with him to this day. It reinforced his belief that financial leadership extends beyond the confines of the company’s balance sheet; it influences national economies, global markets, and the lives of individuals.
The ability to connect these dots is crucial in a role that demands both vision and pragmatism. For Sherif, this was not just an exercise in managing the numbers—it was a demonstration of how critical financial leadership can be to tackling some of the most pressing economic challenges facing a nation. These lessons about strategic influence have stayed with him, and they continue to shape his approach to leadership.
Leading with a Decentralized Approach
One of the challenges of being a CFO is balancing day-to-day responsibilities with long-term strategic planning. For Sherif, this balance is achieved through a leadership style that empowers his team. Rather than micromanage, he focuses on creating a culture of ownership and trust. He believes that the more responsibility you give your team, the more they rise to meet it.
“Ensuring that we have a clear succession plan and empowering my team with responsibility allows us to stay nimble while keeping an eye on the long-term goals,” he explains. By decentralizing decision-making, Sherif has built a financial team that’s agile, self-reliant, and ready to take on challenges.
At Medmark Egypt, this approach has fostered a sense of ownership throughout the organization. Employees aren’t just doing their jobs; instead, they’re actively contributing to the company’s larger goals and working toward mutual success. By empowering his team, Sherif ensures that Medmark is always prepared to tackle any challenges that arise while maintaining focus on their growth ambitions.
In his view, a decentralized management approach is not just a tool for operational efficiency—it’s a way to cultivate leadership at every level of the organization. By nurturing the next generation of leaders, Sherif is ensuring that Medmark is poised to continue thriving, even after he steps away from the role one day.
Facing Challenges in the Insurance Brokerage Sector
The insurance brokerage sector is full of challenges, especially when you’re trying to balance operational goals with financial targets. Sherif has seen firsthand how difficult it can be to align these often-competing demands. “The challenge in our sector is that operations and client satisfaction sometimes don’t align perfectly with financial goals,” he shares. “To address this, we’ve worked hard to increase financial awareness across the organization so everyone from the front lines to the back office understands the impact of their work on the company’s bottom line.”
Sherif’s solution? Education. By running physical sessions and broadcasts, he’s been able to bring financial literacy to all corners of Medmark Egypt. It’s not just the finance team that knows the numbers—every employee understands the financial implications of their decisions, from the CEO to the customer service representative. This cross-functional awareness ensures that the company stays on course, even when the financial landscape gets complex.
For Sherif, building this shared understanding within the company is about creating a common language that bridges the gap between operations, sales, and finance. It helps the company as a whole make smarter, more cohesive decisions. Instead of seeing financial goals as a separate entity, employees are able to integrate them into their day-to-day responsibilities, aligning their efforts with the company’s overarching objectives. This transparency and open communication are key to Medmark’s ability to stay competitive and flexible.
Embracing Innovation to Drive Growth
Present-day leadership success demands innovative financial management practices in addition to product innovations and service leadership. Sherif has dedicated himself to this by revamping Medmark Egypt’s Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) function. Through implementing modern technologies and tools, Sherif successfully increased resource efficiency without harming the company’s consolidated P&L performance.
“We’ve worked on developing creative financial tools that help us make the most of our resources,” he explains. “This has been one of the key areas where innovation has played a huge role, adding value to the business and streamlining our financial processes.”
It’s this kind of forward-thinking approach that has helped Medmark Egypt remain competitive in an increasingly data-driven world. Sherif’s focus on financial innovation not only drives better results but also encourages a culture of creativity and problem-solving within his team. In his view, financial innovation isn’t just about keeping up—it’s about staying one step ahead, continuously searching for ways to improve efficiency and maximize impact.
As he sees it, the true value of financial tools lies not just in how they increase efficiency, but in how they help the company become more strategic in its decision-making. He emphasizes that a culture of innovation is what keeps a business flexible and adaptable to ever-evolving market conditions. It’s about creating solutions that will benefit the company for years to come, long after the initial implementation.
Building Trust through Transparency
In his opinion, financial reporting isn’t just about showing numbers; it’s about building trust across the organization. He’s established a multi-layered FP&A function that ensures all financial data is not only accurate but also accessible to key stakeholders.
“We’ve created a system where detailed financial reports are submitted regularly, and everyone, from the leadership team to department heads, gets the information they need,” Sherif says. By setting clear deadlines and maintaining open communication, he ensures that everyone is on the same page, which ultimately drives better decision-making across the company.
Sherif has cultivated an environment where financial information is not hoarded or hidden away—it’s shared with a sense of openness that fosters trust. When everyone in the organization understands the company’s financial position, they feel more invested in its success. This transparency has not only helped Medmark stay aligned with its goals, but it has also strengthened relationships between departments, ensuring that decisions are made with full insight into the company’s financial standing.
Mentorship and Developing Future Leaders
In his eyes, leadership is not just about guiding the current team—it’s also about preparing the next generation. He’s dedicated to developing his finance team, ensuring they’re ready for future leadership roles. This includes rotating team members through various finance functions, allowing them to gain diverse experience, and having open discussions to foster learning and growth.
“Mentorship is key to my approach. It’s about helping my team members grow, giving them the support they need to step into leadership roles, and ensuring we have a strong pipeline of talent,” he shares. This commitment to mentorship helps ensure Medmark Egypt’s long-term success, as the next generation of leaders is already being prepared to carry the company forward.
This investment in people is not just a strategy—it’s a philosophy that guides everything Sherif does. By encouraging his team to learn and grow, he’s creating a work environment where leadership isn’t just about the person at the top. Instead, it’s a shared responsibility that flows throughout the organization.
Ambitious Goals for the Future
Looking to the future, Sherif envisions substantial growth for Medmark Egypt. His main focus includes establishing precise targets that support the company’s vision. “Our financial strategy for the next five years is centered around setting ambitious but achievable goals,” he says. “We want to push the boundaries while ensuring that our targets are realistic and aligned with the overall company objectives.”
Sherif’s dedication to the company vision positions Medmark Egypt for sustained expansion while maintaining leadership stability in the competitive insurance marketplace.
